manufacturing

Hyper-complex production meets cognitive computing. Electronics manufacturing is surrounded by continuous complexity. Executives face rising resource costs in traditionally low-cost production markets. They must address increasing customization, shorter lead times, frequently changing requirements and shrinking order sizes – all while managing a sophisticated supply network. They need to examine automation potential and maintain critical institutional knowledge. Thinner margins and increased competition threaten consistent quality, risk greater downtime and reduce desired flexibility. Investments in new equipment and automation systems are increasing the amount of data available from the shop floor, but most is not used to its full potential. Now, cognitive manufacturing is transforming production to address such complexity.

The technology market is giving significant attention to Big Data and analytics as a way to provide insight for decision making support; but how far along is the adoption of these technologies across manufacturing organizations? During a February 2013 survey of over 100 manufacturers we examined behaviors of organizations that measure effective decision making as part of their enterprise performance management efforts. This Analyst Insight paper reveals the results of this survey.

IoT has proven its value in the private sector. Ever since the 1980’s, US manufacturing has undergone a dramatic transition based on IoT. Machines that where once manually calibrated and maintained began to be controlled by specialized computers. These computers were able to quickly recalibrate tools which allowed manufactures to produce smaller batches of parts, but were also often locked into proprietary computing languages and architectures.

IoT describes a system where items in the physical world, and sensors within or attached to these items, are connected to the Internet via wireless and wired Internet connections. These sensors can use various types of local area connections such as RFID, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. Sensors can also have wide area connectivity such as GSM, GPRS, 3G, and LTE.

Industrial enterprises around the world are retooling their factories with advanced technologies to boost manufacturing flexibility and speed, achieving new levels of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), supply chain responsiveness, and customer satisfaction in the process. This renaissance reflects very real pressures industry players face today. For years, traditional factories have been operating at a disadvantage, impeded by production environments that are “disconnected”—at the very least strictly gated—to corporate business systems, to supply chains, and to customers and partners.

Many manufacturers are pursuing the immense business benefits available from digitizing and connecting their factories. Major gains in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), reduced downtime, and manufacturing flexibility can be achieved with a factory that is digitized and connected. By providing visibility to machines and processes, manufacturers can anticipate issues that create unplanned downtime. By putting in place a secure, converged and wireless-ready network, manufacturers can have a platform that enables the agility to quickly start up new machines, cells, and lines, and rapidly deliver new products.

The Internet of Things can bring big benefits. But what exactly is IoT, and how are different industries taking advantage of it? This TDWI e-book explores in detail what IoT and the Industrial IoT (IIoT) do for retailers, the automotive industry, state and local governments working with utilities firms, and the manufacturing industry. Common themes include connectedness, data-driven insights, predictive capabilities and transformation.

Selecting the right enterprise resource planning (ERP) software often poses a challenge for many businesses in the manufacturing industry. With so many options out there, it’s difficult to break down each potential application and choose the one that’s the best fit for your business.
This Gartner report explains how ERP selection teams can come to a consensus and establish an understanding of all options by jointly populating and prioritizing a hierarchical, weighted ERP evaluation model.
A structured evaluation model helps put all the cards on the table by explaining and justifying to internal stakeholders, external auditors, and vendors how and why an ERP software decision was made.
Read the Gartner report and establish your own ERP evaluation model to see if the Epicor ERP solution is the right fit for your manufacturing business.

As the world around us becomes increasingly digital, manufacturers must follow suit. Digital transformation presents significant opportunities to achieve growth by addressing key operational issues and aligning products and services to the demands of today’s market.
Growth looks different for every company, and with the vast array of digital technologies available, it can be hard to know where to start. Which technologies offer the greatest opportunity for your company to grow? How can you successfully embrace the digital revolution?
Epicor has a history of helping manufacturers achieve growth by utilizing cutting-edge technology. By downloading these digital transformation assets, you will:
• Understand what growth might look like for your business
• Assess the capabilities needed to support your digital transformation journey
• Explore best practices to implement your digital transformation strategy
• Learn how to capitalize on growth opportunities with speed and conviction

Discover how the supply chain is undergoing tremendous change; once a complicated, siloed bundle of functions ranging from manufacturing to production and delivery, the supply chain is now extended to reflect the importance of networks to the modern business. Learn how these networks connect businesses to customers.

For manufacturers, this IDC white paper examines the current and
future Internet of Things (IoT) imperative for the following discrete manufacturing industries: automotive, aerospace and defense, high tech, and industrial machinery. We highlight IoT-enabled scenarios — those possible both now and in an Industry 4.0 future with smart manufacturing. (IDC defines IoT as a network of uniquely identifiable endpoints or “things” that communicate without human interaction using IP connectivity.) These scenarios more tightly integrate “things” with other information, processes, and even value chains. Further, we demonstrate how companies in these industries leverage technology to create business value today and disruptive opportunities tomorrow.

Download this whitepaper for:
• An overview of how manufacturing can benefit from the big data technology stack
• A high-level view of common big data pain points for manufacturers
• A detailed analysis of big data technology for manufacturers
• A view as to how manufacturers are going about big data adoption
• A proven case study with: Omneo

Distributed enterprises often encompass many remote offices that are essential to running the organization and supporting customers. Important activities at the edge include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, even mobile or remote life-saving environments like health clinics. And while there is usually a central IT staff that creates the overall business architecture for the enterprise, specialized resources to deploy and maintain the infrastructure at the edge can be scarce.
Intel® Xeon® processor
Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries

Distributed enterprises often encompass many remote offices that are essential to running the organization and supporting customers. Important activities at the edge include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, even mobile or remote life-saving environments like health clinics. And while there is usually a central IT staff that creates the overall business architecture for the enterprise, specialized resources to deploy and maintain the infrastructure at the edge can be scarce.
Processeur Intel® Xeon®
Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Distributed enterprises often encompass many remote offices that are essential to running the organization and supporting customers. Important activities at the edge include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, even mobile or remote life-saving environments like health clinics. And while there is usually a central IT staff that creates the overall business architecture for the enterprise, specialized resources to deploy and maintain the infrastructure at the edge can be scarce.
Intel® Xeon® Prozessor
Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries.